Spool



W. T. NYE

July 16, 1957 SPOOL Filed Feb. 4, 1953 tates Patent lice SPOOL William T. Nye, Richmond Heights, Mo., assignor by mesne assignments, to Crown Zellerhach Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application February 4, 1953, Serial No. 335,024

1 Claim. (Cl. 2'42-118.8)

This invention appertains to a readily erectable spool adapted to be constructed of solid fibreboard, corrugated fibreboard, or any other suitable material.

There is a considerable demand for reels and spools which are adapted to contain wire, tape, strap, and similar material for shipment to the user. able that such spools be relatively light so as not to add excessively to the shipping weight of the material. It is also desirable that the spools be sturdy enough so that the user can utilize them for dispensing the material. Shippers and other users of spools and spooled products often demand that the spools or reels be adaptable of. being collapsed prior to the loading operation so as to occupy a minimum of warehouse or shipping space. Previous spools and reels all too often fail to meet one or more of the above requirements. It is therefore one of the objects of this invention .to provide a. sturdy, economical dispensing spool which may be readily collapsed into a substantially flatwise form.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dispensing spool which may be readily erected without requiring the use of tools, stitches, or adhesive, and which may be easily disassembled without injury to the components.

Another object of this invention is to pro'vide a spool or reel which may be constructed out of relatively light, inexpensive material.

A further object is to provide a dispensing spool which may readily be mounted upon a supporting shaft for easy dispensing of the material wound upon the reel.

Another object is to provide a dispensing spool in which both the interior and exterior surfaces are smooth and void of projections of any sort, so as to permit winding of material thereon without subjecting it to possible damage.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dispensing spool which is readily adaptable for reuse.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full and complete understanding of the construction and operation of this device.

This invention is embodied in a structure comprising a tubular body and a pair of end panels positioned in right angular, contacting relation to the ends of said body portion, the end panels being provided with positioning slots closely adjacent and parallel to the end edges of the body walls and adapted to receive positioning flaps which are foldably connected to the ends of the adjacent body walls, the end panels being further provided with folding slots disposed radially inwardly and spaced in parallel relation to said positioning slots, the holding slots being adapted to receive holding tabs which are foldably connected to the positioning flaps.

This invention consists in the parts, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed. In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification, like numerals and symbols therein appearing refer to like parts wherever they occur.

It is highly desir- Fig. l is an isometric view of a spool employing a preferred embodiment of this invention shown in erected position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a blank of the tubular body portion of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one of the two end panels required in the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view through section 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view through section 55 of Fig. 4.

A body blank A employed in a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 2. The body portion A is made up of side wall panels 11 which are defined in part by side scores 12. Each side wall panel 1,] is provided with a tapered positioning flap 13 which is foldably connected to its adjacent side wall panel 11 along an end score '14. A holding tab 15 is in turn foldably connected to a positioning flap 13 along the tab score .16.

Each one of the end panels B, in the, preferred embodiment illustrated, is circular in outline and is provided with a center opening 17. The opening 17 may be .of any convenient size which will readily receive a mounting shaft, not shown. The end panels B are provided with positioning slots 18 which are disposed in spaced relation to the center opening 17. The positioning slots 18 are oriented at right angular relationship to radial lines originating from the center of the center opening 17. In this embodiment of the invention, the center of the opening 17 is coincidental with the center of the circular end panel B. The positioning slots 18 are also spaced, so that the radial line which is in right angular relationship to their length, will bisect their length. In the embodiment of the spool illustrated, there are four positioning slots 18, opposing slots being in parallel relation to each other and in right angular relation to the adjacent positioning slots. Obviously, the number and the relation of the positioning slots 18 may vary, depending upon the number of positioning flaps 13 and holding tabs 15 which are provided by the body portion A. Each positioning slot 18 is provided with an inwardly spaced, parallel holding slot 19. Each holding slot 19 is substantially bisected by the radial line which extends in right angular relation to its positioning slot 18. The distance between the positioning slot 18 and its adjacent holding slot 19 is substantially equal to the length of the positioning flap 13. The length of the positioning slots 18 in the embodiment illustrated is substantially equal to the width of the side wall panels 11 While the length of the holding slots 19 is substantially equal to the length of the holding tabs 15.

The dispensing spool or reel may be assembled in any suitable manner, however,,a preferred means is to fold the body portion A so that the free side edges of the endmost side wall panels 11 are in lengthwise contacting relationship. In this position the endmost side wall panels 11 are secured together by tape 20 or any other suitable means. The body portion A is next formed into a tubular, po1ygonal, hub-forming member. In this position, the positioning flaps 13 and the holding tabs 15 are all substantially in co-planar relationship with their adjacent side wall panels 11.

The end panels B are next positioned onto the ends of the erected body portion A by orienting the positioning slots 18 immediately over the folding tabs 15. The end panel B is then pushed inwardly toward the side wall panels 11, so that the holding tabs 15 and the positioning flaps 13 extend entirely through the positioning slots 18. When the end panel B is in position, its inner face rests in substantially abutting, right angular relation with end edges of the adjacent side wall panels 11.

The end panel B is secured to the body portion by folding the holding tab 15 inwardly about the tab score 16 and forcing it through the holding slot 19. As this is done, the positioning flap 13 will be automatically bent 0 about its adjacent end score 14. In the completely assembled position of the spool, the positioning flap 13 is in flatwise relation with the outer surface of the end panel intermediate the positioning slots 18 and the holding slots 19. The holding tab 15 will be disposed in substantially right angular relationship to the inner face of the end panel B. In this position the holding tab 15 will be entirely enclosed by the body portion A so that there are no projections to interfere with the winding of the material onto the hub or body portion of the spool.

The other end panel B is inserted on the opposite end of the body portion A in a similar manner. This completes the assembly and the reel is ready to be loaded.

If it is desired to disassemble the dispensing reel, the assembly process may merely be reversed, viz., the positioning flap 13 is pulled upwardly away from the outer face of the end panel B. This causes the holding tab 15 to slide out of the holding slot 19. As all of the holding tabs are so removed, the end panel B may be readily removed from the body portion A of the spool. After the other, opposing end panel B is removed in a similar manner, the body portion A may be readily collapsed for storage.

This invention is susceptible to many modifications which still fall within the intended scope of the claim. For instance, the end panels B need not be circular in outline, as they may be varied to suit the individual needs of the user. Furthermore, it may be desirable in certain instances to provide a four-walled body A or, for that mat- .ter, any suitable polygonal shape. It is also obvious that the positioning flaps and their connected holding tabs may be provided on both ends of each side wall panel 11 should such a construction be necessary.

What I claim as my invention is:

A spool comprising a multi-sided, hollow, tubular hub paperboard wall portion and a pair of end panels each provided with adjacent, parallel pairs of inner and outer end panel slots positioned in a pair of concentric circles with the outermost pairs of said slots being in substantial alignment with the end edges of the tubular hub wall, each side of said tubular hub having at its end edge a predetermined fold line outwardly from which extends an end flap, the end flap also having a preformed transverse fold line in spaced relation with the first mentioned fold line, said last mentioned fold line dividing said end flap into an inner portion and an outer portion, the length of the inner portion of the flap between the fold lines being substantially equal to the distance between the radially spaced slots in the end panels, said end panels being disposed in substantially right angular, contacting relation with the end edges of said multi-sided hub portion, said side wall end flaps extending outwardly through said end panel outer slots, the inner portion of said end flaps being disposed radially inwardly in flatwise contacting relation against the outer face of said end panel between the slots, the outer portion of said end flaps being disposed substantially right angularly inwardly through said inner slots and terminating within said hub portion, the said inner portion of the end flaps which contact the portions of the panels between the slots and the end portion of the flaps disposed within the hub constituting a sole means for maintaining the panels on the ends of the hub, and the inner surfaces of the panels which extend outwardly be yond the hub are unobstructed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 335,692 Fries Feb. 9, 1886 671,446 Lorscheider Apr. 9, 1901 1,565,655 Lefebvre Dec. 15, 1925 2,276,800 Sprague Mar. 17, 1942 re- I 

